lacrosse

[Editor's Note: John Morgan, aka L'Carpetron Dookmarriot, has been putting together front-page quality previews over Michigan Lacrosse's incredible run and posting them in the diaries. If you're new to the sport, this primer is still mostly relevant. –Seth]

THE ESSENTIALS

WHAT	#9 Michigan (10-6) vs #1 Duke (14-2)
WHERE	Casey Stadium Albany, New York
WHEN	Saturday, 2:30 PM
THE LINE	BetMGM: Duke-3.5
TELEVISION	ESPNU

OVERVIEW

In my preview of the Cornell game, full of references to historic battles, Homeric epics and West Coast hip-hop, I wrote that Michigan’s lacrosse odyssey had finally and fittingly brought them to Ithaca (get it?!? English major over here!). And then in their first NCAA tournament appearance, Michigan played the greatest game in program history and capped it off with a classic sudden death winner. However, The Odyssey doesn’t end with Odysseus simply debarking in Ithaca. No. There’s more work to be done.  And now for Michigan it’s back to the Empire State to Albany where they get the #1 seed.

And the wild ride is about to get wilder.

Michigan is riding a five-game winning streak right now, three in a row over top-10 opponents and is probably the hottest team in the country. Going into the season finale against Ohio State, a team that was ranked ahead of them at the time, Michigan’s fate was very unsettled. The Wolverines were a bubble team that needed more wins to keep their NCAA hopes alive. Then they crushed their rival Buckeyes and did it again the following week in the B1G tournament to firmly end their season. In the B1G semis, Michigan played a tight first half against Penn State and then turned it on and dominated the second half. They kept that momentum going by blowing the doors off of national champs Maryland in the conference final. Then they upset Cornell in an all-time tournament thriller.

When underdogs go on a run like Michigan’s, people often ask “When is their luck going to run out?”. But if you’ve watched this team play the last month, you know that luck has had little to do with it.

[Hit THE JUMP for more of the preview]

I say we call him "Quick Burst, Mo Hurts." Nobody is on board with me on this. [Fuller]

The Question:

Seth: After the spring game which player are you bullish on, and which are you hedging?

---------------------------------------

The Responses:

Ace: Brian and I did a segment on this during the podcast, so I'll keep this relatively brief. (That's called a teaser, folks.)

MAURICE HURST had arguably the best performance of anyone during the spring game, lining up at multiple spots and blowing up plays at all of them. His first step, which was his greatest strength coming out of high school, is still very quick after adding weight, and he looks very ready to see a significant role this fall.

Given that some practice reports had him as a potential starter, it's hard not to be a little disappointed in Logan Tuley-Tillman's showing, which featured three flags and a couple olés. He was a major project coming of high school, to the point that this year was the earliest he could feasibly see the field, so it's not a devastating blow that he doesn't look ready yet. He has so much upside, though, that it would've been really encouraging to see him push into that starting five.

---------------------------------------

Adam Schnepp: I was looking for a weakness. There had to be one; the practice reports had practically reached tall-tale status, but now I see why. It almost feels like I need to pick someone else because this is too easy, but I'm bullish on JABRILL PEPPERS. I know that we've been bullish on him since last August, but now it's like Raging Bull(ishness). Except not about boxing. Or self-destruction. I was really just going for the bull imagery here.

As a hybrid space player, Peppers is going to have to read run/pass and react immediately. On the Blue offense's first play Peppers peers into the backfield, reads the handoff from Morris, and comes off the edge to take out Shallman, limiting him to a one-yard gain.

While his run stopping was adequate for an HSP, I was more impressed with Peppers' coverage skills. He played almost exclusively with a seven-yard cushion and not only was able to jam guys who had already built up a head of steam but consistently re-routed them to the side he had a help defender. I can't find a good example of this on the video thanks to BTN's zoom-o-matic cameras, but Ace can confirm that if I tweeted the above as many times as I said it to him you'd all either unfollow me or think I accidentally set up a scheduled tweet.

I'm hedging on BRIAN COLE. It's important, however, to delineate "hedging" as separate from "disappointed with." It's hard to judge a receiver when they aren't targeted often, and doubly so as the offense's predilection for two- and three-wide sets often left Cole on the sideline. I expected him to compete for time with the known commodities; I did not expect him to have the same number of receptions and receiving yards as 5-9 walk-on fullback Joe Beneducci. I wouldn't rule him out as a contributor in the fall*, but I expected the ball to be thrown his way more often last Saturday.

*(I don't think any of the receivers have locked down a spot with the exception of maybe Darboh, who was lined up against a dude who'd been a corner for maybe four practices.)

[Jump for the defensive backs are gonna be good, even if the passing game makes them look so.]

The Omen. Trey Burke had a crazy-good final high school season, and so did Derrick Walton. Then Trey Burke started putting videos of his summer workout regime on youtube. Derrick Walton's doing that too:

That step-back makes 'em say uhn. Michigan's going to be just fine at the point this year.

Reiterating. Brady Hoke was on Rich Eisen's podcast, wherein he reiterated Jake Ryan's timetable and said some other things:

On incoming freshman tailback Derrick Green being in the mix this fall: "Oh, he'll be in the mix, and Fitz (Toussaint) is healthy now. (Toussaint) is unbelievable how he works (coming off a broken leg). We'll find out (about Green). Like Michigan, you earn it, you earn it every day. You're evaluated every day. We're excited about Derrick, we're excited about that whole class."

Hoke says there won't be another Ten Year War, which lies. Also, only incompetent germans:

On some good things coming out of Ohio: "There's a guy named Schembechler who was from Ohio. We have Charles Woodson, Desmond Howard from Ohio, and the head football coach at Michigan is from Ohio."

We're #1, locally. Nebraska paper averages everyone's finish in Big Ten sports, comes out with Michigan on top by a significant margin: 

If there is a Big Ten sport, Michigan has a team for it.

And it's likely a pretty good team.

The Wolverines' average Big Ten finish for 2012-13, among their 25 men's and women's teams, was 4.04, tops in the conference.

Nebraska's 21 teams had an average finish of 5.57, good for sixth place -- the same spot the Huskers occupied in 2011-12.

Minnesota was second with 4.43, Ohio State third. MSU was 10th, Iowa last.

Surprise. The 2015 Big Ten schedule is an inverse of the 2014 one, except I guess in terms of order. Michigan's docket:

• OCTOBER 3: @ Maryland
• OCTOBER 10: Northwestern
• OCTOBER 17: MSU
• BYE
• OCTOBER 31: @ Minnesota
• NOVEMBER 7: Rutgers
• NOVEMBER 14: @ Indiana
• NOVEMBER 21: @ PSU
• NOVEMBER 28: OSU

Unfortunate bye timing. Not too worried about that @ PSU/OSU double bill since Penn State will still be in the meat of their sanctions at that point.

Peppers peppers peppers peppers peppers. If Jabrill Peppers's last name was Buffalo, that would be a sentence. Instead it is just a lead-in to Sam Webb profiling Mr. Peppers in the Detroit News. Peppers had a rough background—as you probably know, his dad has been in prison for going on ten years—and came through it:

"My brother (Don Curtis) was actually in (the street life), but that was the main person who sheltered me from it," Peppers explained. "He was my role model even though he was not doing what he was supposed to do. He kept me from doing the things that he was doing. I actually wanted to be out there with him. I didn't have a male role model in my life, so he was the closest thing to one. I was looking up to him so I was fighting every day, but every time he saw me out there in the street he would tighten me up and tell me to go home. He would tell me, 'This is not how (you're) going to do it! This is not how (you're) going to live (your) life.'"

His brother was murdered in 2010. The whole piece is highly recommended; it's going to be easy to root for him. Not that I have problems rooting for bionic supermen anyway.

Hello Hopkins. The Big Ten adds Johns Hopkins, which conveniently gets them to six lacrosse teams (M, OSU, PSU plus the two new additions). That's the minimum for an autobid and, like hockey, lacrosse is a minor but burgeoning sport that can fill airtime on the BTN. Hopkins is one of the sport's all-time great powers with a ludicrous 44 national titles, but once they missed the tourney this year for the first time since 1971 they decided something needed to change.

Hopkins is an academic powerhouse, of course, and since its only DI sport is lacrosse their addition doesn't do anything except set the Big Ten up as a power conference. The Big Ten wanted JHU pretty badly, as they allowed them to keep their current deal with ESPNU.

Hope. Brian Kelly on the M-ND series:

"We'd like to play each other," Kelly said. "I don't think it's ending. Give us some time to make it work."

I have my doubts since Notre Dame is stuck with five ACC games year—but they're not in a conference—and now that Michigan has MSU and OSU on the road at the same time they no longer want but in fact desperately need a sexy nonconference game in even years, when ND is away to USC and would prefer a home game against a marquee opponent themselves.

The dumbest thing Gordon Gee said. I know, I know, but where does your head have to be at when Rutgers is doing what Rutgers does right now and you drop this:

The blocking strategy is that we simply have now put the ACC in an almost no-win position. So who do they immediately go to? Louisville.

Yes. A no-win position in which they bring in the defending national champions in basketball and a BCS-bowl-winning football team with a fevered fanbase. Calling Bret Bielema a thug who was going to get fired after three straight Rose Bowl appearances is a strong #2, I'll grant.

Etc.: Yes in fact the Denard injury does hurt your heart. Indiana game at 3:30. The CJHL is coming down hard on teams in their purview that damage the NCAA eligibility of their players. Denard in Jacksonville. Free shirts for everyone. Scouting Tim Hardaway in preparation for the NBA draft. Lol rutgers.